ASCII Star Wars rogue-like is guaranteed to eat an hour of your day

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Every once in awhile you stumble across a broswer game that kills an hour of your day and leaves you ready to quit whatever it is you were doing. They don’t keep your attention for long, but when you’re done you look up and time has moved on without you. As web technologies grow there might be an expectation for better graphics and longer stories, but there’s something about the silly games that get your attention. This Star Wars rogue-like easily sucks up an hour of your life, and in return leaves your head filled with ASCII-killing amusement.

You start the game off by choosing between Jedi and Sith — but don’t worry there’s absolutely no difference in the game whatsoever if you choose one side or the other. And I’m guessing the developer has heard about Disney buying LucasFilm, since your little ASCII self is guided through a basic tutorial that shows you how to use the lightsaber to kill Mickey Mouse. Once you’ve demonstrated that you can use the force to push and pull things, you are released into a world where apparently everything gravitates toward you with the intent to kill.

Survival in this game is entirely dependent on you paying attention to your personal metrics. You have health, force powers, and an XP bar. Every time you kill something you gain XP, but every thing you do that can kill something (including when you swing your lightsaber) costs you force. If you run out of force, you’re going to get shot to death by droids and clones. Both your health meter and your force meter recharge as you move around, but every step you take brings the enemies closer to you. If you fill the XP bar before you die, the game ends and you have won.